Maine insurers request double-digit hikes in ACA exchange plans

Insurers
in Maine are seeking double-digit rate increases for their 2017 Affordable Care
Act (ACA) marketplace plans, according to the Maine Bureau of Insurance.

Although
most of the proposed increases will be absorbed by federal subsidies, experts
continue to be concerned about the overall trend of rising costs associated
with ACA exchange plans.

According
to rate filings, Community Health Options seeks a 22.8 percent hike; Harvard
Pilgrim, 18.7 percent; Aetna, 14.2 percent; and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, 14.1
percent. The Bureau of Insurance and the federal government will have a final
say on the proposed rate increases.

All rate increases that would take effect in January are required to be submitted in May.

“The announcement that Maine's health insurance
companies are seeking large premium increases for plans sold in the Obamacare
exchange comes as no surprise and reflects broader national trends,” Liam
Siguad, policy analyst at the Maine Heritage Policy Center, recently told Patient Daily. “Since its
implementation, Obamacare has driven insurance companies across the country to
withdraw from the exchange or significantly raise premiums to offset unexpected
costs, while many of the co-ops created in individual states have collapsed.”

Fortunately,
most Maine enrollees will see little to no increase in their 2017 premiums due to
the way the ACA is structured in the state, which caps the amount enrollees pay
and makes subsidies available to individuals earning 100 percent to 400 percent
of the federal poverty limit.

However,
premiums increase when income increases, if there is a change in family size or
if an enrollee opts for a different plan.

Word
of the proposed rate increases does not come as a surprise to health care
experts. Because insurers saw a larger than expected number of claims last year,
many predicted that rate hikes were imminent.

Last
year’s rate requests were much lower than this year’s. Community Health Options
requested a 0.5 percent increase, and the other insurers had a 5 percent
premium increase.

According
to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, premiums went
up by 4 percent nationally in 2016, the Portland
Press Herald reported.

Although
the ACA was designed to make health care coverage more affordable and more
accessible to everyone, the ever-rising premiums counter the benefits
the act was supposed to provide. And with federal subsidies expiring at the end
of the year, insurers are bound to pass the losses onto consumers.

“Unfortunately, the solution to the problem of
soaring health care costs -- promoting direct primary care, repealing
certificate of need regulations and creating more transparency for customers
-- is often being ignored,” Siguad said.

The 2017 marketplace enrollment period opens up
this November, just one week before the presidential elections -- creating a predicament for Democrats. With premiums and deductibles set to increase substantially
in 2017 in most states, voters will have the opportunity to take their
frustrations to the polls.